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Reading 




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12 liantettn Slides 



WILLIAM H. RAIJ 

PHILADELPHfA 



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Descriptive Reading 



ON 



ATHENS 



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ILLUSTRATED BY TWELVE LANTERN. 
SLIDES 






WILLIAM H. RAU 

PHILADELPHIA 
1890 



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Copyright, 1890, by William H. Rau. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



1. The Acropolis. 

2. General View of the Ruins. 

3. Parthenon (rear view.) 

4. Friezes from the Parthenon. 

5. Carytides of the Erechtheion. 

6. Temple of Minerva Polias. 

7. The Ruins from the East. 

8. Tower of the Winds. 

9. Bas Relief, Theatre of Bacchus. 

10. The Prison of Socrates. 

11. Temple of Theseus. 

12. Theatre Herodus Atticus. 



ATHENS. 

No European city of ancient birth is putting on 
more youthful robes than Athens. The old and the 
new lie in strange brotherhood everywhere. You 
stumble over cobblestones over which the tranquil 
Plato walked out of the city to his Academe, and 
your ears are deafened by the whirl of sewing machines. 
You see the queen, beautiful and bright, riding up 
to. the palace gate ; but in five minutes you are pick- 
ing your way over the little Ilissus, and clambering 
over the very rocks where once played the boys who 
afterward won Marathon and died at Thermopylae. 

And it is only among the ruins of her former great- 
ness that we realize that we are in Athens — the immor- 
tal city of Minerva, — the mother of great men. The 
whole place is one vast shrine of hallowed memories. 
Here are the monuments of Pericles, the triumphs of 
Phidias ; here it was that Socrates and Plato dis- 
coursed of the human soul ; here ^schylus strung 
the tragic lyre, and the daring denouncer of Philip 
poured the thunders of his eloquence. And as we 
muse and ponder o'er the past we cannot but exclaim 
with Byron, 

" Cold is the heart, fair Greece ! that looks on thee, 
Nor feels as lovers o'er the dust they loved." 

1. The Acropolis. — No other spot in the world 
can rival the Acropolis in its unique combination of 
natural grandeur, of artistic beauty, and of sublime 

(945) 



946 ATHENS. 

historical associations. That small, isolated rock, 
whose plateau is about a- thousand feet in length, and 
four hundred and fifty feet in its greatest breadth, 
had not only been the cradle of Athens, but had 
obtained so sacred a character as to be regarded as 
one vast temple. How great was the veneration with 
which it was regarded ! In the eyes of its admirers 
it appeared to be the very centre of the world. Thus, 
Aristides fancifully compares it to the innermost 
circle of a shield, surrounded by four others ; the 
world being the outermost of which Greece was the 
centre ; Attica, the centre of Greece ; Athens the 
centre of Attica ; and the Acropolis the centre of 
Athens. 

This lofty hill, which rises three hundred feet above 
the plain below, was once the place of mean dwellings 
above which rose two temples. Neptune was the 
favorite god, and to him was the chief worship, for 
Athens was a child of the sea and must honor its 
paternity. But gradually wisdom took the place of 
this sacred memory, and Minerva became the great 
goddess of the priceless hill. All the dwellings and 
poor buildings were swept away, and the entire great 
space was devoted to sacred uses. Temple after 
temple arose, the wonderful Parthenon above them 
al]. 

2. General View of the Kuius. — As we \\ ander 
on toward the Acropolis we pass through an actual 
chaos of broken and shattered ornaments, hands, feet, 
heads, draperies, columns, altars, and friezes. Every 
object that meets the eye, every sound that accosts 
the ear, is the talisman of some being or event, 



ATHENS. 947 

calling up youth, beauty, genius, and valor from the 
grave, and restoring the images of self-sacrifice and 
patriotism. The drama of centuries^ with its splendid 
or sorrowful scenes, its heroes and poets, its manifold 
transformations, can here be lived anew. From that 
which yet remains of the fallen dwellings of the gods, 
we can form an idea of their beauty, and of the feel- 
ings which must have animated the great law givers 
of Athens, when from the temple colonnade of the 
lofty city, they looked abroad over the glorious 
landscape below, and thought upon the grandeur and 
honor of Athens. 

We pass through the great gateway amid a world 
of fragments of capitals, and statues, and vases ; and 
all recalls to us the other days when Greece was the 
world's queen, and Athens her joy, and the Acropolis 
her choicest shrine. 

3. Partlieiion, (Rear View). — We make our way 
upward to where stands in broken beauty the most 
finished monument of classic taste, the highest triumph 
of Grecian genius, the world's warmest wonder. 
Enough of the Parthenon still remains to tell us 
exactly the original shape. We have its whole 
outline — enough of its still erect pillars and general 
structure to learn to an inch all its dimensions. You 
know every step by which the ancient worshiper 
ascended and entered the shrine, and you can sit 
down in it and lose yourself in thought, and wonder 
if it is really you who are there, or some old Greek 
who had seen the ships of Xerxes go down out in 
the bay, and had lost his way for very joy and had 
forgotten things and had fallen asleep, and now 



948 ATHENS. 

waked up again and found himself resting on one of 
these steps of the Parthenon. 

The temple is a parallelogram two hundred and 
twenty-eight feet long, and one hundred and one 
broad, and sixty- six feet to the top of the pediment. 
Each of its sides was approached by a flight of 
marble steps so easy and gentle in appearance that 
you look upon them with a sense of restfulness, and 
ascend them with a feeling of relief. At the top of 
these steps comes the row of great Doric pillars, 
which follow the line of the temple on each side. 
There are sixteen of these pillars on each side and 
eight at each end. Then comes the main building 
with its three divisions ; the outline, notwithstanding 
the thefts and the wreck of long centuries, is precisely 
clear. You see just where the very altar stood and 
the groove in the pavement where the blood of victims 
flowed away. 

This temple has been justly called the ''finest 
edifice on the finest site in the world, hallowed by 
the noblest recollections that can stimulate the human 
heart." The idea of graceful and gentle proportion 
surpasses all else. There seem to be no sharp and 
cutting angles. It is said that there is not a straight 
line to be found anywhere in the Parthenon. All is 
in curves ; yet so skillfully are these convex: lines 
drawn that you would never suspect them. You see 
the grace and symmetry, but little suspect the chief 
cause. The architect had looked out upon the 
islands and seen their gentle slopes, had followed 
the lines of Salamis, and the sweep of the coast 
aYound to Corinth, and the plain stretching off to 



ATHENS. 949 

Marathon ; and nowhere could he find a sharp angle 
or a straight line. So, when he reared the Parthenon, 
he followed Nature's curves ; he caught her secret of 
beauty and embalmed it in his marble triumph. 

4. Friezes from the Paitlienon. — But let us for 

a moment turn our gaze from the perfect beauty of the 
temple as a whole, and examine in detail some of the 
sculptures that enrich it ; for not only is this building 
the culmination of an architecture that had gone on 
through centuries of refinement, but it was combined 
with the work of the greatest sculptor the world has 
ever produced. Built into the wall of the cella, high 
up under the roof Df the portico, was a broad band 
of sculpture in low relief It was a wonderful 
composition of hundreds of figures, a double pro- 
cession of horsemen, chariots, men and women on 
foot, and cattle for the sacrifice ; starting at the 
southwest corner of the building, and passing along 
the west and north walls, and also, separately, along 
the south wall, to where, at the east end, the gods 
are seated, and the priest and priestess with their 
attendants prepare for the ceremony of the day. 

The subject of the frieze is the procession of 
celebrants at the Greater Panathenaic Festival, which 
took place every fifth anniversary of the goddess 
Athena's birthday. The exquisite sculptures exhibit 
still the . delicacy and fire which ever followed the 
chisel of Phidias. Their extraordinary beauty and 
great extent place them at the head of all sculpture 
accessible to us. 

5. Carytides of the Erectheion.— From the con- 
templation of the Parthenon we turn to another 



950 ATHENS. 

masterpiece of Greek sculpture, the temple of Erech- 
theion. The southern portico, consisting of a solid 
marble Avail rising eight feet above the exterior level 
is surmounted by six carytides of great beauty. The 
figures stand four in front and two behind. The 
height from floor to ceiling is fifteen feet. These 
draped female figures are transcendently beautiful, 
giving at the same time an impression of strength 
and grace. It is curious to note how the entablature 
is modified to meet these conditions ; the frieze is 
omitted and the whole composition simplified and 
lightened. 

Within the temple you are shown the spot on 
which Neptune and Pallas Athena are said to have 
contested for the dominion of the city. Neptune 
struck the ground with his trident and caused a salt 
spring to burst forth. Athena, or Minerva as she is 
more popularly known, caused an olive tree to shoot 
up from the earth, and the inhabitants of the city were 
wise enough to choose the giver of the tree of peace 
as the protectoress and legislator of the city. The 
spot where the fountain and the olive tree sprung 
forth within the temple is now distinguished by a 
deep fissure, which extends far into the earth. 

«. Temple of Minerva Polias. — The temple of 
the Erechtheion was divided into three distinct 
shrines, — the Erechtheion proper, the Pandroseion, 
and the temple of Minerva Polias, the most revered 
sanctuary of Athens. It was in this temple, built on 
the site of a yet earlier one that the statue of Minerva 
made of olive-wood and supposed to have fallen from 
heaven, was preserved ; a statue probably more ven- 



ATHENS. 951 

erated than the colossal divinity which Phidias 
placed in the Parthenon. There also burned the 
lamp which was never extinguished, and which was 
replenished with oil but once a year. It was to this 
temple that the sacred veil was brought from E4eusis 
by the Panathenaic procession. In this temple the 
mystic serpent of the Acropolis had his abode ; in it 
were preserved the throne of Xerxes and the sword 
of Mardonius. 

The temple is of Ionic architecture, nor has there 
ever existed a more perfect specimen of that grace- 
ful order. In length it is seventy-three feet, and in 
breadth thirty-seven. At one side is the beautiful 
porch of the carytides, in which Virgins attired in re- 
ligious costume of the Panathenaic solemnity, take 
the place of pillars, and support the projecting corn- 
ice on their broad and sedate brows, which they 
seem to wear as a crown rather than sustain as a 
burden. 

7 Tlie Uuins from tlie East. — As we pause for 
another comprehensive view of these magnificent- 
ruins, we cannot but reflect that it is not time alone 
which has inscribed its solemn, silent memorials on 
these great works of antiquity ; the hand of time 
sanctifies while it casts down, heals whilst it smites, 
and causes new beauties to arise on the sepulchres of 
the departed. No ! it is the blind, savage madness 
of man that has here ravaged and devastated; it is 
ignorance and violence which have trampled under 
foot the works of Solon, of Pericles, and of Phidias. 
Well may the bird of Minerva lament and moan amid 
the ruins throughout the stillness of night, for 



952 ATHENS. 

the condition of the sacred edifices presents one of 
the saddest spectacles of the triumph of barbarism 
over the realm of wisdom and beauty. 

But brightly beautiful among the grosser ruins 
gleam the marble relics which still stand erect. It is 
the light and loveliness of life lingering among the 
shadows of death. If so impressive now, what must 
they have been as forming a portion of the unrivalled 
structures which once covered the whole elevation; 
when portico rose over portico, temple over temple, 
and the Parthenon, pre-eminent over all, shone in its 
marble whiteness. As we gaze, for a moment all is 
restored to its pristine beauty, and rises in the full 
dignity of its youthful stature, with architecture 
fresh and perfect, outlined against a glowing sky. 

*'Shnut, shout aloud! at the view which appears of the old 

time-honored Athenae, 
Wondrous in sight and famous in song, where the noble Demus 

abideth." 

8. Tower of the Winds. — At the foot of the 
.Acropolis, at the head of what is now called ^olus 
Street, there is an old tower of marble called the 
Tower of the Winds. It is octagonal in shape, and 
each of its sides bears the figure of the wind which 
blows from the direction in which the side faces. 
Each wind is clearly characterized, and has its name 
inscribed beneath. The dial lines were traced below 
the sculptures, and the tower also contained a water 
clock. The top was surmounted by a bronze Triton, 
which revolved and showed the direction of the wind 
by a wand he held in his hand. The Triton has long 
since perished, but the sculptured Winds are still 



ATHENS. 



953 



well preserved. The sculptures are large in style 
and highly decorative in effect ; they harmonize well 
with the strong plainness of the whole structure, 
which is unique in character and pleasing in effect. 

9. Bas Relief, Theatre of Baeclms. — Most in- 
teresting of all the remains on the slopes of the 
Acropolis, is that of the Temple of Bacchus, the great 
Tragic theatre of Athens. Almost all of the count- 
less statues with which it was decorated have disap- 
peared, but while gazing on a few of those that re- 
main, let us try to imagine as it appeared in its glory, 
this edifice which is said to have seated thirty thou- 
sand spectators. Some remains of its steps still exist 
hewn in the rock of the southern side of the Acropo- 
lis ; but the marble with which its seats were covered 
has disappeared. Ranged along these stone seats 
the Athenians witnessed the tragedies of Sophocles 
and ^schylus, performed with all the solemnity 
of a grave religious ceremonial, while incense as- 
cended from the altar of Bacchus, the god of the 
passions, and the inspirer of tragic song. 

In this theatre the day that the Peloponnesian War 
was concluded by the complete submission of the 
Athenians, when Lysander had demolished the forti- 
fications which Themistocles had erected, the Athen- 
ian people witnessed the " Electra " of Euripides. 
That day was the anniversary of the battle of Salamis, 
won seventy-six years before, and had ever been 
kept as a chief festival. The contrast between the 
glory of Agamemnon, who alone had ruled the hosts 
of united Greece, and the exile of his orphan daugh- 
ter, suddenly struck the Athenians as paralleled only 



954 ATHENS. 

by their own fate ; — and the audience melted into 
tears. Of all the spectacles which the Temple of Bac- 
chus witnessed, that must surely have been the most 
pathetic. 

lO. The Prison of Socrates. — From the theatre 
we wander to the prison of Socrates, a cave cut in the 
steep face of a rocky elevation that rises between the 
Acropolis and the sea. The cavern is small, low, 
gloomy, its darkness relieved only by a few rays that 
struggle through the entrance ; and even these few 
rays seem pale and tremulous, as if conscious of re- 
vealing some spot of ingratitude and guilt. 

It was here that the sublime sage spent the last 
thirty days of his life, under sentence of death, for 
having discovered, without the lights of revelation, 
some of those subtle truths which embrace the divine 
attributes and man's highest dignity. These dark 
walls may indeed have confined his body, but not 
that 

" Intellectual being, 
Those thoughts that wondered through eternity." 

He Spent his last day in discussing with his friends 
the immortality of the soul. There was a patience, a 
meekness and forgiving magnanimity in the death 
of this martyr to truth, to which no heart can be 
wholly insensible. I wonder not that the servant 
reluctantly obedient to orders, wept as he handed 
the sage the fatal hemlock The philosopher quietly 
took the cup, and died in the expectation of a happy 
immortalit}'. Thus did he vindicate truth in the 
presence of his foes and calmly seal his faith with his 
blood. "This was the death," says Plato, "of our 



ATHENS. 955 

friend — the noblest, wisest and most just man whom 
we ever knew." 

11. Temple of Tlieseus. — A little below the Acrop- 
olis lies the best preserved of all the Athenian ruins, 
the Temple of Theseus, erected in commemoration 
of the eventful victory gained over the pride -of Per- 
sia. The architectural characteristics of this temple 
are in sober harmony with the solemnity of the wor- 
ship of which it was the shrine. No ambitious, fan- 
tastic display of ornament impairs its entire impress- 
iveness ; it stands with self-relying composure, simple, 
massive and majestic. Its material was not unworthy 
its purpose or the perfection of its design ; for the 
finest Parian marble prevails throughout ; and so re- 
sisting has it been to the corrosive touch of time, that 
only the sombre tinge of years is apparent upon its 
form. 

You gaze on this temple without any amazement 
or great emotion ; yet on attempting to leave it, you 
turn round at every step to take another parting 
look, till at last you resolve to retrace your steps and 
come again into its full presence. You feel irresist- 
ibly attracted, chained to the spot, and yet it would 
be impossible to describe the impression of its har- 
mony and beauty. 

This temple has long survived the worship of the 
imagined divinity to whom it was dedicated ; passed 
to the quiet possession of the Christian ; been forced 
into the service of the False Prophet, and has revert- 
ed once more to the followers of the Cross. 

12. Theatre Herodus Atticiis. — At the foot of 
the Acropolis, in excellent preservation stands the 



956 ATHENS. 

theatre Herodus Atticus. The outer walls, which 
we now behold as blackened ruins, not many years 
ago lay deeply buried in the earth ; but when it, was 
dug out its beautiful amphitheatre was found, with 
its circling seats of white marble in perfectly good 
condition. The theatre seems small for a theatre- 
loving public like the Athenian, but it is built and 
finished in a style and costliness scarcely possible in 
these days. It was built by Herodus, a wealthy citi- 
zen of Athens, who gathered around him all the re- 
markable men and all the rising talent of Attica, en- 
couraged plans for the public good, and employed 
a great number of people in beautifying the city. He 
built this theatre for the exhibition of the favorite 
and most highly cultivated popular amusement — that 
of dramatic representation. The arena is now voice- 
less, and all that remains of this costly structure has 
been crushed by the hand of Time. 

" O Time ! sole monarch of the mighty Past, 
The pillars ot^thy throne are on the grave 
Of empires— thy dominion is a waste, 
Once animate with nations great and brave. 
And who contended with thee to the last." 



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